Refrigerated display counter



June 6, 1933. A. H. BROMANN 1,912,638

REFRIGERATED DISPLAY COUNTER Filed Oct. 7, 1951 cad/P Patented June. 6, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ALBERT H. BROMANN', F RIVER FOREST, ILLINOIS, 'ASSIGNOR T0 BROMANN BROS., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS REFRIGERATED DISPLAY COUNTER- Application filed ember 7, 1931; Serial No. 567,365.

Refrigerated display counters ordinarily embody an elevated display compartment having one or more transparent walls and having doors which are usually located along the rear side of the compartment so as to permit access to the compartment. To cool the display compartment, refrigerating coils are commonly employed, these coils being remotely located with reference to the transparent 1o walls of the compartment so as to provide an unobstructed View from the front thereof, and air circulation induced by the coils is relied upon to cool the products in the display compartment.

In prior counters various factors, in use, have resulted in unsatisfactory cooling of the display compartment. For example, prior counters have been constructed to produce circulation of the cooled air throughout :0 the entire display compartment and in direct contact with the glass walls thereof. This has caused heating of the circulating air with a resulting increase in the temperature within the display compartment, and has caused a deposition of moisture on the inner sides of the glass walls. Also, the doors of the display compartment are frequently opened and are often left open for long periods of time,

with the result that the cool air passing closeao ly adjacent to or toward the doors escapes from the display compartment.

The primary object of the present invention is to avoid these objectionable features through the provision of a counter wherein the cooled air moves in spaced relation to certain of the exterior walls of the display compartment whereby to minimize the absorption of heat by the moving air.

Another object is to provide such a counter constructed to obtain circulation of the cool air through the display compartment along a path which is independent of the open or closed position of the doors.

Another object is to provide a counter of this character arranged to confine the circulation of cool air to the space closely adjacent to the food products so that the cool air moves in spaced relation to the top, front and rear walls of the display compartment whereby to provide a blanket of relatively stationary air adjacent these walls which may serve as an insulating medium.

Another object is to provide a counter of this character in which the refrigerating means acts in two groups; one of the groups serving to induce initial flow of the air and the other group serving to insure continued flow of the air in the cooling chamber and proper distribution of the cooled air to the various openings which lead to the display compartment.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which the figure is a vertical cross sectional view of a preferred form of counter embodying the. features of the invention. a

The above and other objects are attained in the present embodiment of the invention through the provision of a counter wherein the circulatory path of the cooled air is confined to the space about the food to be cooled and is spaced from the outer walls of th display compartment so as to minimize heat absorption, the circulation of the air being obtained by means which offsets any tendency to form eddy currents, and the doors being located out of the path of the circulating air so that the air circulation is not affected by opening of the doors.

In the form chosen for disclosure herein the invention is embodied in a counter having a base 10 of usual construction upon which are carried a display compartment 11 and a cooling compartment 12 disposed one above the other. The cooling compartment 12 is formed immediately above the base 10 by an insulated horizontal wall 13, end .walls 14 (only one shown), upwardly extending front and rear walls 15 and 16 and an upwardly and rearwardly inclined partition constituting a display shelf 17, an upwardly and rearwardly extending shield member 18 at the rear of the shelf and a header 19 95 which extends forwardly from the upper edge of the rear wall 16. The shelf 17 and the member 18 serve to divide the cooling compartment 12 from the display compartment 11.

The display compartment 11 has a forward wall 20 of glass mounted on and extending upwardly and rearwardly from the upper edge of the forward wall 15 and oined at its upper edge to a top wall 21. The rear wall 21 of the display compartment is also located in a sloping position, its lower edge being carried on the forward edge of the horizontal header 19, and its upper edge being joined to the top wall 21. To provide for access into the display compartment the rear wall 21 has a suitable door opening therein adapted to be closed by sliding doors The display shelf 17 is supported at its forward edge by an angle bracket 24 mounted on the wall 15 a substantial distance below its upper edge, from which bracket the shelf slopes upwardly and rearwardly to a point spaced forwardly of and below the forward edge of the header 19. At this point it may be supported by an angle bracket 25 carried on a plurality of standards 26. The angle bracket 25 also serves as a support for the member 18 whichin the present instance has a perforated vertical section 18 extending upwardly for a substantial distance from the bracket and an integral imperforate upper portion 18 extending rearwardly to the wall 21 to which its edge is secured below the doors 22. The perforated section 18 permits circulation of air therethrough, while serving as a shield effectually concealing the refrigerating element in the cooling compartment.

In accordance with the present invention, the cooled air from the cooling compartment 12 passes upwardly through perforations 17 a in the shelf 17 and moves rearwardly along the upper surface of the shelf and across the foods carried thereby, after which the air returns to the cooling compartment 12 at a point below the upper imperforate portion 18 of the member 18, the air in the present instance passing through the vertical perforated section 18 of the member-18. Rearwardly of the member 18, the cooling compartment 11 extends upwardly substantially above the shelf 17, and a part of the cooling means is located in this upwardly extending portion of the cooling compartment so as to induce the desired flow of air thereto. This portion of the cooling means preferably comprises an elongated fin type coil 27 which is concealed by the perforated member 18*. The air about the coil 27, upon being cooled moves downwardly in the rear vertical section of the cooling compartment, as indicated by the arrows and in its downward movement it strikes a downwardly and forwardly sloping bottom surface 28 which changes the direction of movement of the air and causes it to move forwardly into a passage 29 formed between the shelf 17 and the wall 13 and constituting a horizontal section of the cooling compartcooled air, a plurality of refrigerating coils 31 are positioned in the passage 29 in spaced relation to the top and bottom walls thereof. These coils also serve to offset any tendency toward the formation of eddy currents in the passage 29. Due to the oppositely sloping relation of the shelf 17 and the surface 30, the cross sectional area of the passage 29 decreases rapidly toward its forward end. This, it has been found, is a feature of primary importance in that it has the effect of o confining the cooling action to the region about the shelf.

The cooled air, passing upwardlythrough the openings 17*, is preferably maintained out of contact with the forward wall 20 of the display compartment. For this reason the lower edge of the wall 20 is offset forwardly from the inner or rear edge 15 of the wall 15, so that air moving upwardly along the inner surface of the wall 15 will not immediately come into contact with the wall 20. As an additional safeguard, the openings 17 in the shelf 17 may be spaced a substantial distance from the forward edge of the shelf whereby to provide an imperforate section 33 of substantial width extending along the forward edge of the shelf.

Having passed through the openings 17, the cool air is drawn rearwardly along the upper surface of the shelf 17 in a generally horizontal direction to replace the air which upon being cooled passes downwardly about the coil 27. In this movement the air passes through the openings in the vertical guard or shield 18 extending upwardly from the rear edge of the shelf 17.

It has been found in practice that by extending the display compartment 11, above and rearwardly of the rear edge of the shelf 17, thus forming a dead air pocket out of direct downward communication with the cooling compartment, the sole effect of the coils is to cause rearward movement of the air below the dotted line B. Moreover, a similar pocket is formed at the front edge of the shelf by offsetting the front wall 20 forwardly.

Accordingly, the present construction confines the circulatory movement of the -air to a path closely adjacent to the foods to be cooled and spaced from the outer glass walls of the display compartment. Also, the air adjacent to the forward, top and rear walls of the display compartment is relatively stationary and may at all times act as an insulating medium. Since the cooled air in its circulatory movement does not move toward or close to the doors 22 so that opening of the doors does not result in loss of cooled air. In use it has been found that the doors may be left open continuously without an appreciable rise in temperature in the zone about the shelf 17, as defined by the line B in the drawing.

This application forms a continuation in part of my copending application Serial No. 384,743, filed August 9, 1929.

I claim as my invention:

1. A refrigerated display counter having an upper display compartment and a lower cooling compartment, with a perforated partition'between them inclined upwardly in a front to rear direction, said cooling compartment having an imperforate bottom wall ex tending rearwardly and substantially downward with its forward edge spaced vertically a short distance only from the forward edge of said partition and its rear portion spaced vertically a substantial distance below the rear edge of said partition and extending rearwardly substantially beyond the rear edge of the partition, a vertical rear wall rising from the rear edge of said bottom wall and extending upwardly above the rear edge of said partition, and a top wall havin its lower forward edge spaced upwardly rom the rear edge of said partition a distance less than the distance between the rear edge of the partition and said bottom wall; said display section having a transparent front wall inclined upwardly and rearwardly from a point adjacent the forward edge of said partition, and a transparent rear wall extending upwardly and forwardly from a point adjacent the upper edge of the rear wall of the cooling compartment; means in said cooling compartment beneath and rearwardly of said partition for cooling the same, said partition having an imperforate forward edge portion coacting with said transparent front wall to form a dead air pocket extending along the lower forward portion of the display compartment; and an upright perforated plate between the rear edge of said partition and the forward edge of said top wall of the cooling compartment.

2. A refrigerated display counter having an upper display compartment and a lower cooling compartment, with a perforated partition between them inclined upwardly in a front to rear direction, said cooling compartment having an imperforate bottom wall extending rearwardly and substantially downward with its forward edge spaced vertically a short distance only from the forward edge of said partition and its rear portion spaced vertically a substantial distance below the rear edge of said partition and extending rearwardly substantially beyond the rear edge of the partition, a vertical rear wall rising from the rear edge of said bottom wall and extending upwardly above the rear edge of said partition, and a top wall having its lower forward edge spaced upwardly from the rear edge of said partition a distance less than the distance between the rear edge of the partition and said bottom wall; said display section having a transparent front wall inclined upwardly and rearwardly from a point adjacent the forward edge of said partition, and a transparent rear wall extending upwardly and forwardly from a point adjacent the upper edge of the rear wall of the cooling compartment; and means in said cooling compartment beneath' and rearwardly of said partition for cooling the same.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature.

ALBERT H. BROMANN: 

